B.G. Buda’s: Cazenovia’s newest restaurant showing strong business

Cazenovia  Things are looking up for Cazenovia’s newest restaurant, B.G. Buda’s Cucina Italiana and its owner Bob Enigk. Enigk reports that business has been very good since the restaurant quietly opened in May. In fact, he said, “most weekends you would need a reservation.”

B.G. Buda’s, located at 88 Albany St. in the F.H. McLaughlin building, is an homestyle Italian restaurant that offers housemade bread and desserts, all fresh ingredients and a warm, cozy atmosphere. The dining room seats about 50 and offers a full-service bar. The restaurant is named for Enigk’s late mother, Betty Gail Buda, who inspired many of the recipes on the menu.

Enigk, who serves the twin roles of head chef as well as owner, offers food that is representative of his heritage and his upbringing. “Italian food is just me,” he said.

The menu at B.G. Buda’s has all of the hallmarks of a fine Italian restaurant: margherita pizza, pasta carbonara, penne vodka and many others. When asked what he recommends, especially for first-time patrons, the chef said: the chicken parmesan, the seafood risotto with lobster, shrimp and scallops, and the ravioli trio with mushroom, cheese and artichoke ravioli in a parmesan cream sauce.

Although the menu at B.G. Buda’s features Italian classics, when it comes to his nightly specials Enigk likes to experiment. Asian-Italian fusion dishes that may feature a side of wasabi gnocchi or barbeque-Italian dishes like pulled pork cannelloni allow Enigk to broaden his culinary horizons while staying true to what he does best.

“I tell people that if a special sounds good to you, you should try it because it may never happen again,” he said.

The menu also contains a section that you may not find at other Italian restaurants: a “half order” menu, which includes smaller portions for a smaller price, enabling a patron to sample more than one dish or a table to share a variety of tastes.